Sightings | Alumni Profile

2001 Fellowship Recipients Announced

Recipients of the 2001 Alumni Association Fellowships, the Kuzimier-Lee-Nikitine (KLN) Endowment Fund Award and the Whitney Lawson Chamberlin Internship Fund were announced at the Spring Banquet this past April.

Alumni Association Fellowships are funded by alumni for rising second-year students who have shown substantial academic achievement during their first year at the Nicholas School. This year's awardees were Christina Bird MEM and Susan Watts MEM.

The Kuzimier-Lee-Nikitine Fund was established in 1993 in memory of Kerrie Kuzmier, Steve Lee and Pavlik Nikitine, all members of the class of 1992. The KLN fund is awarded to students whose research projects focus on development of human capital, promotion of the sustainable and efficient use of natural resources, maintenance of local cultural integrity, preservation of biodiversity and the improvement of local quality of life. This year's recipients were Susan Watts, Miwa Fujinuma and Dana Wusinich. Susan Watts worked with the Fundacion Cocibolca, a non-profit conservation organization in Nicaragua, on capacity building for the protection of sea turtle populations at the La Flor Wildlife Refuge. The South East Asian Fisheries Development Center in the Philippines sponsored Miwa Fujinuma's research on cost-benefit analysis of mangrove deforestation and shrimp farming to answer the question, "Is shrimp farming producing enough benefit to cover the externality they are causing?" Dana Wusinich worked with Amigos de Sian Ka'an, a local non-governmental conservation organization, to form a management plan for X-Calak, a small fishing village on the southernmost tip of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The results of the plan will set park boundaries, define use zones and create a framework of regulations.

John E. Terborgh, a first-year MEM student, was the recipient of the Whitney Lawson Chamberlin Memorial Fund Internship, which was established in 1997 by William Chamberlin and Katherine Constable in memory of their son. Terborgh worked with Conservation International in Madre de Dios in the Tambopata-Candamo Reserve in southeastern Peru. His project focused on working with a group of local collectors of Brazil nuts to improve their standard of living. The Brazil nut trade is a crucial part of the regional economy, as well as an important factor in placing a check on deforestation in the region.

For more information on any of the fellowship opportunities at the Nicholas School, contact Karen Kirchof, director of Career Services at kgki@duke.edu or (919) 613-8016.

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